AN: Yo, new chapter here for your guys. It’s a little bit different from my usual as I’ve been experimenting with different stuff, still… I hope you like it.

  Won’t bother with yapping here, just gotta add that my finals start in two weeks tops so updates may suffer, I will do my best, but just be warned.

  Question:

  If you could choose an ability to make your IRL life better, which one would you choose?

  (A few ground rules so everyone doesn’t just answer Reality Warping. No absurd fshy stuff, like skills that make you shoot sers from your eyes, transform into a Kaiju, etc. Ideally, something that couldn’t be easily detected or turn you into a government experiment.)

  Yasaka Hirume

  - Urakyoto -

  ~ The Day the Ptinum Dragon Fell Asleep ~

  Urakyoto, the other side of Kyoto and the former headquarters of the te West Youkai Faction, one of the densest supernatural realms of all the moonlit world, bustling with activity; Youkai, humans, and many other supernatural species.

  There were so many people living in this realm that it became clear why one of its known titles is the “Mirror of Kyoto”. A bustling megalopolis in every sense.

  Initially, the Youkai realm used to be quiet and serene, a pocket dimension created by the Shinto Gods for Amaterasu’s Chief Priestess and her followers. But thanks to the rapid modernization of the mundane world, many Youkai migrated. Urakyoto soon bloomed into the West Youkai faction, where Youkais and other Japanese Supernaturals from all walks of life eventually congregated at the Nation’s Supernatural capital. In contrast, the more violent, physical, and warmongering types went towards the East Youkai faction, thus splitting the old Japan Youkais in two.

  The West was governed by a great and noble lineage of 9-Tailed Kitsunes descended directly from the Lady of the Sun herself, where the cn head and, eventually, West Faction Leader, is the Chief Priestess of Amaterasu, and oftentimes her Avatar as well.

  The East was first governed by an extremely strong Oni cn, led by Ibaraki and Shuten Douji from the Great Mount Ooe. But after a series of events that killed Shuten and drove Ibaraki into a berserk rage due to grief, Nurarihyon eventually became the King and General of the East, putting all of its Youkai under his control and swiftly reinstalling and tightly controlling the Hyakki Yagyō, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Nurarihyon commanded the East until it was dissolved and fused into the Saiko Shinto Faction.

  On the other side, the West was governed by the Hirume Cn, a Kitsune cn characterized by their beautiful golden-blonde fur and absurd talent with Senjutsu. But things changed when the te Cn Matriarch, Mana Hirume, found a baby Kitsune with pink fur.

  Being the mother of a baby girl not too long ago, Mana’s Motherly instincts went haywire when she saw the abandoned baby. The Matriarch didn’t even hesitate to adopt the little pink Kitsune and raise her as one of her own. When it came to naming her new daughter, Mana was a little lost, but after what she would ter describe as a Divine Inspiration, she called the baby Ikusa Utsuwa.

  To Mana’s immense relief, her daughter Yasaka and the newly adopted Utsuwa got along exceptionally well, the two hitting off as sisters easily from the get-go.

  They grew up like retively normal Kitsune Children –meaning they were an absolute menace; pranking everyone, tricking unsuspecting mortals, and generally being absolute brats. But overall, they had a lot of fun and grew up healthy.

  Eventually, Utsuwa’s absurd talent was revealed. It was not a matter of what or how, but when. If Yasaka, who was already considered an exceptional talent of the Hirume Cn, took a day to learn something, Utsuwa would take a minute, maybe even half of it if it was a subject she enjoyed. The Disparity between them was astronomical.

  It reached a point that Amaterasu-Oomikami herself descended into her avatar, Mana, to check out Utsuwa. It was then revealed that not only was Utsuwa an exceptional breed of Kitsune, having the potential to reach Nine-tails easily, but she also had Divine Blood, meaning one of her parents was a Kami, which made her a Kitsunegami.

  As one of the leaders of the Shinto Pantheon, Amaterasu quickly recognized the Divine aura in Utsuwa’s blood, which belonged to Inari Okami. She immediately brought little Utsuwa to Takamagahara.

  When she returned, Utsuwa was almost another person. Whatever happened in the realm of the Gods changed her forever. It awakened her Divine Blood, her already absurd talent became even more so, allowing Utsuwa to quickly increase her strength, easily leaving her older sister and mother behind.

  While Utsuwa gained new tails like a second-generation lposh rich ady changed clothes, Japan was also changing a lot. The Yakuza had discovered a way to turn humans into Humanoid Dragons, so they were swiftly encroaching on Youkai territory, while the East was acting up at what they perceived at the time as ‘inferior’ beings acting so brazenly.

  A plethora bsurd talents came from the Yakuza: Kazuma Kiryu, the Golden Dragon of Dojima; Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano, a Bck Dragon of unprecedent strength; Ichiban Kasuga, the Red Dragon of Yokohama and many more other raising stars that became absolute powerhouses the moment they underwent the surgery to become a Humanoid Dragon.

  Many Yakuza cns and families started expanding their influence, both in the supernatural and mundane world, simultaneously. It reached a point where it would be a real possibility for them to completely take over Japan if left unchecked.

  And when the Five Principal cns also got involved, things reached a boiling point. Conflict became inevitable.

  The First to act was Nurarihyon, who led the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons to repel a few Yakuza Cns encroaching on his territory.

  It was a bloodbath, both Youkai and Yakuza died by the hundreds, amongst them Nurarihyon's own son, who thought it would be a good idea to sneak into the parade, and Akira Nishikiyama’s little sister, who was just an innocent soul caught in the crossfire.

  This made things escate even more, with the Toji Cn getting involved and sending the Golden Dragon of Dojima, and Nurarihyon sending his grandson and the spirit Inheritors of both Shuten and Ibaraki Douji to acompany him.

  On the west, the more radical factions of the Five Principal Cns unched an attack on the Youkai, killing the chief priestess of Amaterasu, Mana Hirume, and accidentally destroying Amaterasu’s Main Shrine in Urakyoto.

  As the next in line of succession, it should have fallen to Yasaka Hirume to lead the Youkai as the new Chief Priestess, but due to the Main Shrine being indisposed at the moment, the succession ceremony couldn’t be properly implemented. Knowing the urgency of the matter, the West Youkai cn leaders started a vote, and after some swift debate between the higher-ups of the West Faction, which included both Utsuwa and Yasaka, the Hirume Cn heir, Yasaka, voluntarily ceded her position to her sister Utsuwa, who at that point was already a Nine-Tailed Kitsune.

  As the new leader of the West Faction, Utsuwa knew the situation couldn’t be left as it was, so she raised an army, trained them, and started her campaign throughout Japan. With a Divine decree from the Lady of the Sun herself on their hands, Utsuwa and one of the biggest armies to ever grace the Japanese Moonlit world, marched towards the Principal Cns.

  Without a single shred of hesitation, Utsuwa executed all dissidents from the cns, for this was not the time for mercy; it was time for war.

  With the Divine writ of Amaterasu in hand, she disbanded the Principal Cns and absorbed their remnants into her Faction.

  In a single move, she not only avenged her mother but also solidified her position as a faction leader and won one of the biggest conflicts involving Supernatural humans in modern history.

  Still, with the Divine writ of Amaterasu, she marched towards Mount Ooe, where the conflict between East and Yakuza was happening. On the way, she fought many battles and small skirmishes, cleansing Japan of all rogue cns, small dissident factions, and evil cults of long forgotten beings.

  Where Utsuwa went, she brought peace and prosperity, cleansing the nd of evil and unifying the lost and dispersed under one banner.

  Things had escated a lot when she and her army arrived at Mount Ooe. Nurarihyon was having a very bad time, and the Yakuza was winning by not a small margin. Liking it or not, when you can turn humans, who are as numerous as ants from a supernatural perspective, into Humanoid Dragons with a simple procedure, your numerical advantage in any kind of conflict will be immense. And the Yakuza knew how to capitalize on their strengths.

  The first thing Utsuka did upon arrival was to unify all Youkai under one single banner. But when she proposed such to Nurarihyon, the tter ughed in her face. Yet, when he saw the Divine Writ on her hands, the leader of the east quickly grew solemn and expined things properly.

  “To become the leader of Mount Ooe is easy; all you have to do is prove to be stronger than me. So I challenge you to a duel, little Kitsune, a duel to decide the fate of all Youkai.” ~ Nurarihyon, The Leader of the East Youkai.

  The battle was fierce; both Utsuwa and Nurarihyon were very strong beings. One was an unprecedented talent with a divine origin, mastering skills that took many entire lifetimes with little effort, while the tter led the East, which contained the most savage and martial type of Youkai, for a long time, meaning he had the strength and skill to back up his rule.

  Utsuwa won, and Nurarihyon bent the knee.

  With all the Yokai unified, Utsuwa, the newly crowned Youkai Queen, started to reinforce her territory and prepare her people for the war against the Yakuza.

  With the pink fox on the helm, the Yakuza had a very hard time fighting against the Youkai. The war became that much more intense, an Oni princess was assassinated by Dragon Fire, and a Yakuza princess fell to a Jorōgumo’s poison.

  Kiryu and Utsuwa met often on the battlefield, the two swiftly becoming rivals. Their cshes were as impressive as they were legendary, the two might being almost equal in all but–

  “Hoh, reading history books again, sister?” A very seductive and powerful female voice echoed, making Yasaka abruptly close the book she was reading.

  “Just feeling a little nostalgic.” Yasaka sighed. Her gaze briefly scanned the beautiful garden of her pace located at the center of Urakyoto. She then showed the book title to her sister.

  “ ‘A summary of recent History, by Ringo Utsu’ Sounds right up your alley.” Sitting on the porch right beside her sister, the woman smiled. “So, it's the tale of how my hubby and I met?”

  “Kinda, I was just getting to that part.” Yasaka hummed. “I’ve just read about you defeating Nurarihyon and was about to fight Kiryu-sama for the first time.”

  Utsuwa chuckled. “Good times.” She sighed while closing her eyes. “I remember fighting Kiryu-chan a lot at that time before we fell in love. Thank the Kamis, you discovered that those assassinations were being done by the Omi alliance and the Qliphoth. If you hadn’t… We would be fighting to this day.”

  “We still know nothing about Qliphoth?” Asked Yasaka in a slightly distracted tone.

  “Unfortunately, no.” Utsuwa shook her head. “The only thing we have on them is their name and the fact that they were somehow involved in the assassination of a few other key targets.” The Pink fox smiled softly; “At least Kiryu-otto managed to defeat the Omi alliance.”

  Yasaka nodded. She did a little bit of research on the Qliphoth name and what it exactly means. Unfortunately, all that she found were articles about how it refers to the evil forces, spiritual waste, and something about the inverted tree. All that she knew for certain was that it had something to do with Devils, so almost involuntarily, she asked her sister. “Did you ask our allies about it?”

  Utsuwa robotically turned towards her sister, her expression dispying a perfect deadpan. “Really, Yasaka? Seriously?”

  Yasaka winced; she got excited about her discoveries and ended up momentarily forgetting her recent mistake. “Sorry, sis… I–”

  Utsuwa patted her older sister on the head, her pink tails swaying calmly behind her. “Tell me, Yasaka. What happened? You are one of the sharpest Kiutsune I know, and your skills with senjutsu are basically only second to mine.” Utsuwa sighed a little sadly. “So why did one of the most skilled Sages of our faction falter so spectacurly, causing such an incident?”

  Yasaka pursed her lips; she knew very well the reason why it happened, but she felt extremely ashamed of it. Lowering her gaze and blushing an adorable shade of crimson, she mumbled. “ I… I got distracted.”

  Utsuwa frowned and gave a very deep look at her sister, scanning Yasaka’s expression and body nguage for something. And considering the massive smile that adorned the pink Kyuubi’s face, she should have found it. “Owwww, my big sis has a crush!” She gushed in an excited tone, making Yasaka flinch and try to hide inside her own Kimono.

  Yasaka foolishly tried to deny it. “N-No, I do n-not–”

  “Bah, of course you do!” Utsuwa smiled teasingly. “That expins a lot.” She nodded as if she suddenly understood all the truths of the universe.

  Yasaka went to protest once more, but before she could even open her mouth, an excited Utsuwa had already interrupted.

  “Now, who is he?” Utsuwa then cupped her chin. “Or perhaps it is a she? You can rest assured that I won’t judge you. I will always love you as my sister, no matter what–”

  “S-Stop it, sister!” Yasaka Half shouted, momentarily stopping Utsuwa’s endless bombardment of questions. Intellectually, she knew that her sister could be quite relentless when she wanted to be. So, in a way, Yasaka is stuck between a rock and a hard pce.

  Sighing, Yasaka decided she might as well talk with her sister before the tter reached some absurd conclusion. Sighing, she looked towards a distant waterfall in the garden, her voice low and shy. “It’s a he… but I don’t exactly know how I feel yet.”

  Utsuwa nodded her head enthusiastically. “Good. Good. Now, tell me, who is your crush?” She then frowned slightly. “Please, don’t tell me it’s Ichiban or Shi-Woon. I don’t want to have to beat them up again.”

  Yasaka snorted, she remeber how pissed at the Dragon pair Utsuwa was, it reached a point she even gave them a good sparking for misbehavior. Then Kiryu arrived and took care of the punishment, and considering just how seriously the Golden Dragon of Dojima treats Yakuza’s Honour, the two were in for a very bad time. Shi-Woon dormitory even changed to the prison, while Ichiban got off a little more lightly as he wasn’t exactly at the site at the time.

  “No, you know very well I don’t like those two that way.” She sighed, pursing her lips. She hesitated for a moment, unwilling to divulge such a piece of personal information. But Utsuwa is her sister, and Yasaka clearly remembered her sister informed her first when she and Kyryuu started their escapades in the middle of the war. It’s only fair she reciprocated in the same vein.

  “I… It’s best I tell you things from my perspective.” Yasaka then went and expined everything to Utsuwa, from the moment she received the call when she bathing to the moment Serafall arrived and dismissed Antares.

  “Razen Antares Gremory, huh,” Utsuwa mumbled, deep in thought. “To think my big sis would get a crush on a Devil of all things…”

  “Stop it, Utsuwa.” Yasaka massaged her temples. “I said I don’t know exactly what that was, I could be afraid of him for all I care.”

  Utsuwa ughed, hard, to the point it even started sounding like a fox ugh. Yasaka felt her left eyebrow twitch in irritation at her sister's reaction, but before she could make a snide comment, the Youkai Queen looked at her with warmth.

  “Sister, since when could a simple man make you afraid?” Utsuwa pressed. “You’ve met many people in your life, and as a Sage, you probably know many more. Which one had this much effect on you? Which one made you stop like this?”

  Utsuwa then smirked teasingly. “Which one made your heart beat faster and your stomach flutter?” She then patted her older sister gently on the head. “How many times have you been thinking about him since that day?”

  Yasaka lowered her head; ‘All the time’, she added inwardly, unwilling to say it out loud. Utsuwa, almost as if reading her mind, smiled gently and opened her mouth to continue teasing her sister, but before she could say anything, they were interrupted by one of the guards shouting.

  “Lady Ikusautsuwa-no-Oomikami, there is an urgent issue that needs your attention,” shouted a female Tengu from inside the manor.

  Utsuwa frowned and looked towards the direction of her guards. “You know I am busy talking with my sister right now.” She took a deep breath and contained her frustration. “What’s so urgent that you would interrupt the little free time that I have?”

  “The Ptinum Dragon fell with the Sleeping Disease.”

  Both Utsuwa and Yasaka froze, the pink-haired Kitsune instantly getting up and summoning her Divine Powers to check on Shi-Woon’s holding cell.

  She then turned towards Yasaka. “I am afraid we will have to continue this discussion ter,” she sighed tiredly. “I have another mess to deal with…”

  Yasaka nodded. “If you need my help, just ask.” Utsuwa nodded and disappeared in a fsh of light.

  Alone once more, Yasaka sighed and put her book down, her thoughts focused on a certain red-haired Devil.

  .

  .

  .

  ~Razen Antares Gremory~

  Floor 91 Day 740 – City of Khelmellior, City-State of Pherral-Pampas

  Stepping into a city after 10 days of slogging through the 91st floor made Antares sigh in relief. Since he defeated Imvaernarhro, the tower seemed to get even crazier. The Red Dragon had dropped a Unique Consumable item that allowed Antares and the girls to unlock their Extra slots and a Legendary Grade Sword he used for a good 10 floors before it became obsolete.

  Morpheus Well, the floors from 61-70 were one of the most unpleasant experiences of Antares’ life. Think of Blighttown mixed with the swamp of sorrows, all in the shape of a gigantic nightmarish well.

  It was bad, it smelled bad, and it felt even worse navigating through it. For more than 100 days, the group was utterly miserable unless they were in a developed city.

  After Morpheus’ Well, also colloquially known as Morpheus Sewer by the dreamers, he and the girls ascended to the fabled and equally dreaded Sky Floors, composed of Morpheus’ Balcony and Morpheus’ Sky Parlor.

  And Antares has only two words to describe the st 20 floors: Absolute Nightmare.

  “Shiiiiiiiiet,” Neptune cursed in a deeply annoyed tone. “I thought being able to fly was supposed to make the Sky Floors easier, not harder.”

  Midna, who, even 10 days ter, still spotted a wild disheveled mane of hair, looked at the purplette with a very annoyed gnce. “It was supposed to be.” She grumbled under her breath. “But someone just had to skydive after the Clear Golden Eagle.”

  “Sorry about that,” Antares winced and scratched his head awkwardly, “But the eagle was the only lead I had for the Cleansing Talisman.”

  Midna’s annoyed gaze visibly softened before her smile turned warmer. “And that is the only reason I am not angry, just frustrated from getting an Air Cannon to the face.”

  “At least the battle against Hraesvelgr wasn’t as bad as the other Dreamers made it out to be,” Pyra added softly.

  “That is because you guys are all freaks.” Midna deadpanned. “Two years and we are already at Morpheus’ Peak. If it wasn’t for Choir Boy breaking all the previous records and reaching the 100th floor in the same timeframe, we would be the ones breaking the records here.”

  “Well, if we can be considered Freaks, those guys are another thing entirely.” Antares shook his head. “Two Longinus, plus whatever the heck Asn sacred gear is… I am honestly surprised they took so long to reach the st floor.”

  “Distance is a big factor here.” Midna hummed. “Liking it or not, the Peak Floors are way too big; each one is basically a world on its own.”

  “Not to mention how much they kept fighting the Dream Eaters.” Eu pointed out while holding Antares' hand. “I don’t know what kind of beef they have with them, but I'm beginning to get tired of hearing news of them destroying another base or another cell.”

  “Tell me about it,” Neptune whined. “It’s always some different fvor of Asn’s Team crub-stomps Dream Eater Cell Number 4456…” She pursed her lips, holding back a small ugh. “It is kind of sad.”

  “There was a time I even started to believe they had some affiliation with the Cult of Morpheus.” Midna scoffed. “But I don’t believe the cult would let a Pope Candidate join their ranks.”

  “Is the First Dreamers' climbing time known?” Antares asked while looking at the high walls of the massive city around him. It was a weird mixture of Roman and Ancient Celtic architecture that left the Devil a little bit stunned, not to mention everything was massively scaled up, as if 20-foot giants walked the street regurly.

  “Unfortunately, no.” Midna shook her head. “But it likely took a very long while, as not only did they ascend the tower, but they also built a structure so people could follow in their footsteps.”

  “Now, I can imagine you are pretty anxious to get rid of your curse, Midna.” Antares smiled warmly at the floating imp. “Do you know a good Inn close by? Somewhere where we won’t be disturbed.”

  Trembling in the air, Midna did her best to suppress the flood of emotions coursing through her mind and soul. She then took a deep breath and searched her memory for all the information on Khelmellior City, going through all the hostels and Inns she knew about.

  “A few kilometers north, we just need to turn right twice, and we should be able to find the Iapetus Inn.” She hummed in thought, recalling more info about the pce. “It’s a very luxurious Inn, expensive as hell, but they treat their clients’ privacy better than a Dragon treats gold, so there is no need to worry.”

  The group instantly made a beeline for the pce. Liking it or not, they were all exceptionally tired from the Sky Floors, coupled with their self-imposed Side Quest of finding a Unique Item to cleanse Midna of her curse, and the group was completely spent.

  Most of them were running on their reserves by now, and if it wasn’t for some of their Legendary Equipment having some recovery skills, many of them wouldn’t even be walking right now.

  While going towards the Inn, Antares observed the streets and just how deserted they were. Compared to the sprawling city he saw before entering The Tower or even the Layered City on Floor 40, Khelmellior was a very lonely sight.

  “Midna… why is the city so empty?” Neptune frowned while looking around, her engraved armored boots scraping against some strange grey-colored marble. “Not even the Skywall City of the st floor was as empty as this…”

  “Like I said before, Neptune. Floors from the 91 and above are utterly massive.” The Imp expined, internally gd for the chance to occupy herself with a conversation.

  “You indeed mentioned these floors are like a world of their one,” Pyra said while deep in thought before her gaze widened a bit. “Do you mean these floors are literally bigger than an entire pnet?”

  “You got it, Pyr, a world of its own, in size at least,” Midna smirked toothily. “So the popution is way better distributed. But if you go to one of the Kingdoms' capitals, they would be just like any other country capital, filled to the brim with people from all walks of life.”

  “But this doesn’t make sense, Midna.” Eu frowned. “Each floor of this tower is a filter, and then you put the Middle, Upper, and Peak Floors filters on top of it. Even if just 1 in one million people manage to reach the Peak Floors, there shouldn’t be more than half a dozen thousand people here, and that is if Morpheus captured Earth’s entire popution.”

  Midna then looked at Eu and deadpanned, pointing a finger toward her and Pyra in a very deliberate and demonstrative way. Understanding finally dawned on Eu’s face, making the knight blush and avoid her gaze in shame. “So people from other worlds are captured to fill The Tower as well, huh.” Eu cleared her thoughts, already leaving behind her previous question.

  The imp smirked and nodded. “Yeah, no one knows the specifics exactly, but there is a convergence of quite a lot of different worlds here.”

  “Now that I think a little more deeply about it, that’s a little bit concerning,” Antares mumbled while deep in thought. “I’ve always treated Morpheus as the Morpheus from Draconic Deus, but if he has been ‘abducting’ people from other universes entirely…”

  “It means that things aren’t so simple anymore.” Neptune completed solemnly, as someone who read quite a few multiverse travel fanfics, she is aware of the absurd stuff that can pop up. “Do you think he is a System User?” the purplette asked her lover.

  “Well, it would certainly fit The Tower to T,” Antares cupped his chin. “Perhaps something akin to a Dungeon Development System… but still…”

  “You don’t think it is feasible?” Neptune raised her eyebrow.

  “Yeah, I sincerely doubt Macroz would let someone from another faction intrude in his territory,” Antares concluded a little unsurely. “Liking it or not, we are on Company Territory…”

  “But quite a few system users are working for the company, no?” Eu asked while tilting her head.

  “Not to mention, you also got a mission from your patron when you entered the Dreamscape.” Pointed out Pyra while looking at a strange store that sold equally strange mechanisms. “So it's safe to think The Tower is still within Company territory,” Pyra then sighed, “Whatever that means at the end of the day.”

  Antares chuckled. “Yeah, it doesn’t sound that much better when you say it out loud, huh.”

  Pya smiled shyly; “Yeah.”

  Getting a private suite at the Iapetus Inn was a very simple process. They just had to prove they aren’t some kind of deranged criminals, pay a hefty sum of Dream Coins, and the best suite of the Inn was theirs for an entire month.

  The suite was an impressive sight, three floors of the highest luxury someone could buy with their Dream Coins. Marble columns as tall as the three floors combined, clearly of Greek origin, beautifully engraved arches describing the muses decorated every passageway, and a polished marble floor made of an opaque white color only enhanced the already beautiful details in gold, blue, and grey.

  “This pce…” Eu mumbled, astonished, her gaze analyzing the contrast between golden bands and white marble and finding them fascinating. “It looks like something straight out of a Greek Temple, no, Greek Myth.”

  Neptune leaned slightly on Antares, her armor clinking against his. “It kind of reminds me of those temples in God of War, just less destroyed and more hotel-like.” She then hummed. “Everything is surely polished and very well cleaned as well.”

  “Oh, come on, guys. Stop messing around.” Midna whined, her anxiousness reaching the peak. “I wanted so long to have my curse removed. Don’t do this to me.”

  Antares patted Midna on the head, the imp swiftly calming down to his gentle, warm touch. “Don’t worry, let’s find a pce where you are comfortable, and then I will finally use the Cleansing Talisman.” Midna nodded and swiftly flew around, her head going back and forth in search of a private room.

  Only on the third floor did she stop, choosing a guest bedroom right beside the master bedroom. Soft, white, silken-like sheets as curtains, equally white marble on the walls, paintings of beautiful sights of the Greek countryside, coupled with plenty of other decorations Midna couldn’t care less. What was important to her was that the bed looked extremely comfortable.

  Midna then sat on the bed and started swinging her small legs back and forth. Her mind started to feel anxious again, but before her thoughts could spiral even further, Antares and the girls entered the room.

  Antares picked a chair that was in the corner of the room and brought it closer to the imp. Sitting on the chair, he summoned a talisman on his hand.

  The room immediately went silent, even the previous whisper of the wind turned quiet, the movement on the silk curtains stopped, and even the rays of the sun seemed to hold their breath.

  A Rainbow Colored aura bsted the room like an overexcited disco ball, every single color of the visual spectrum shining through as if they were their own sun. Every person in the room instantly zeroed in on the object in Antares’ hand, they couldn’t help it –it was almost like there was an invisible charm to the object, as if The Dream itself demanded they should pay attention to it.

  The Cleansing Talisman was a very simple piece in form, but incredibly intricate in making. At first gnce, it appeared to be a simple-looking ofuda talisman, but if one were to look closer at it, they would see the talisman was made of a thousand small white feathers fused together in the proper ofuda shape.

  On this feather-made paper, there was a strange inscription made with abyssal bck ink. Antares, even with his Communication Talent and the Devils' innate nguage ability, couldn’t make heads or tails of what was written there. But when holding the talisman, the word Cleanse, kept being echoed inside his own mind.

  The ink was strange and surreal, as if in each millimeter there was an entire world inside of it, and its color and readability did not change no matter in which angle the ofuda was observed.

  “To think we had to kill Quetzalcoatl 28 times for him to drop it.” Mumbled Neptune, a little distracted, her mind going back to those very long days on the 90th floor.

  Midna shrugged. “That’s a hidden boss for you.” She sighed. “I just wish we didn’t need to make a new Feathered Crown every time we summoned him. The main reason everything kept attacking us was because we kept hunting the Clear Golden Eagles.”

  “Well, you said the monsters consider the Clear Golden Eagles sacred.” Eu pointed out while analyzing the talisman. “Besides, half of our Legendary equipment we got thanks to that, so I wouldn’t say it was all that bad.”

  “Yeah, and we all got at least Epic Grade equipment for our extra slots.” Nodded Pyra.

  “We were just farming.” Neptune shrugged. “Killing a Boss only 28 times and dropping the highest rate item possible is a miracle in my books. I was fully prepared to have to kill him over 1000 times, maybe even more.”

  “Guys…” Midna mumbled, almost bursting into tears before schooling herself.

  “We really lucked out with that drop.” Midna hummed while looking hypnotically towards the talisman. “To be honest, I really didn’t believe those rumors in the first pce.” She admitted a little shyly. “I fully admit I thought the rumor referred to a rather rare Legendary Item, I didn’t mind really, it would help me get rid of my curse inside the tower at least.”

  “But a Unique one is ideal, right?” Antares smiled. “Like this, it will get rid of the curse on your real body as well. Unique Items, after all, affect the real world.” Midna nodded seriously, prompting the group to sigh silently.

  “Okay.” The imp took a deep breath. “Antares, let’s stop pussyfooting around the issue.” Midna adjusted herself on the soft bed. “I don’t want to be an Imp anymore. So use it, let me get rid of this fucking curse.”

  The Devil looked at the Cleansing Talisman one st time, a rather forlorn mood befalling his countenance. His Greed demanded that he pocket the Talisman to use it himself, but Antares scoffed at such a poorly thought-out thing. He loved Midna, and he will always do his best for those he loves.

  Antares chuckled internally, took a deep breath, and pressed the Cleansing Talisman against Midna’s forehead.

  The talisman fshed briefly in a blinding white light before it slowly dissolved into Midna’s forehead. The imp started falling on the bed like a puppet that had its strings cut, but before she could hit the mattress, Antares quickly held her and gently id the Twilight Princess on the bed.

  “Is she okay?” Asked Neptune, worry as clear as day in her voice. Eu just silently touched Midna on the forehead, before turning towards the purplette; “She still has a pulse, and her breathing is steady. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she fell asleep.”

  Pyra yawned. “Let me use the Trinity Processor to scan her.” Pyra approached the bed. “Just give me a second.”

  Everyone just stayed silent and observed Pyra go still for a single moment, her eyes fshing golden, and then neon green for a moment, before going back to red.

  “... all my scans indicate is that she is fast asleep, I just hope she–”

  Before Pyra could continue talking, Midna suddenly started glowing in a low white light. But this light was strange, as it seemed to blink in the same pattern as the sleeping princess' heartbeat. The group looked at each other, concern visible in each of their faces.

  “I can see you guys are exhausted.” Antares turned towards Eu, Neptune, and Pyra. “So go rest, I will take the first shift.”

  Eu instantly narrowed her eyes. She knew this trick of her lover very well; it's rather typical of Antares to take the first turn, but ends up being the only one guarding everyone for the whole night so others can rest. This wasn’t the first time he pulled something like this, and Eu supposed it wouldn’t be the st.

  “... promise me you will rest properly ter.” The bluenette asked softly. Antares nodded, a little awkwardly for being seen through so easily. Eu huffed and kissed him before turning towards Pyra and Neptune with a teasing smirk. “The first bath is mine.” She then ran out of the room, prompting Neptune to squawk in indignation and quickly follow her.

  While Pyra sent one st gnce towards Midna, before giving Antares a soft kiss on the lips and subsequently getting out of the room.

  Antares smiled warmly at his lovers' antics before looking at Midna with clear worry in his gaze. “Don’t leave us here, my Dear Twilight,” he mumbled softly while caressing her head.

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  -Twilight Realm, Pace of Twilight -

  ~10 Years after the Ascencion of Ganondorf ~

  It all started with Zant.

  At first, he was just your average Twili with an ambitious but also great heart, not a bad thing, as ambition by itself is a blessing for all those who wish to walk the path of life, something that can give color and purpose to one’s existence.

  But an encounter with a certain fming entity would change Zant forever. His ambition was twisted, corrupted, turning from a pure desire for self-improvement into something much darker. In an ambition to rule above all.

  But not in the sense he wanted to better the lives of those around him and guide them on their paths, but to possess, to dominate, to feel himself above others, to show he is superior.

  He started his pn by joining the Royal Family as one of their servants, observing, taking notes, and doing his best to gather as much information as possible. Zant firmly believed that he had a right to the Throne of Twilight; that becoming the Ruler of Twilight was his calling.

  Of course, the Twili weren’t fools; some of them quickly saw through Zant’s facade and knew he had a rotten heart, so the royal Family never intended to let him even close to a position of rulership.

  Zant was not happy with this fact, and when Midna, the Twilight Princess, became the youngest Ruler of Twilight ever, Zant didn’t take it well.

  He went back to the fming God-Like entity that had initially put him on his path of conquest and traded all but his Soul away for power.

  Using his newfound powers, Zant overthrew Midna, cursed her into a diminutive imp form, and turned every citizen of the Twilight Realm into Shadow Beasts.

  Still reeling from the sudden loss of basically everything she held dear, Midna could barely react while Zant sealed her into a prison under the Pace of Twilight. A Pce where she would be stuck for quite a long while.

  From her prison, Midna didn’t know exactly the horrifying things that were happening to her Kingdom, to her people. All she could do was wait.

  Then came the tremors –mighty earthquakes that seemed to penetrate even the seal she was under. Midna would ter discover that it was Ganondorf, the Scourge of the Realms.

  It seemed that all this time, the God-Like entity that has been maniputing Zent was none other than him.

  Not aware of Ganon’s previous escapades, both Midna and Zent didn’t know just how much the man had changed. Not only was he stronger, but his use of the Triforce of Power was getting increasingly more complex and intricate; his mind was sharper, his actions more calcuted and wiser. In a way, it was almost as if he knew the future himself.

  In a particur demented rant made by Zant, she would ter discover that it was at Ganon’s suggestion that Zant sealed and imprisoned her. Zant would then proceed to whine about Ganon bragging to him, how the Scourge of the Realms devised a plot so subtle and so twisted that it allowed him to gather both the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce Wisdom in one fell swoop, killing Princess Zelda and Link almost like they were an afterthought.

  Midna did not know those characters, but she felt a strange pang of sadness at learning they died in the hands of such a malevolent being.

  Ganon would then ter fuse both Triforce pieces with his own and obtain the full might of the Triforce. With the authority of Wisdom, Courage, and Power backing him –and the heroes who usually opposed him dead, Ganon was unstoppable. He quickly dominated the entire world, the fires of his conquest spreading even to the adjacent realms, and that also included the Twilight realm.

  Then came the horrifying news: Ganondorf was coming to the Twilight Realm.

  Zant is many things, but brain-dead, he is not. The ambitious Twili could see through Ganon’s moves and knew he had lost his usefulness to the now God-like entity. Feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt, Zant went towards Midna’s seal and confessed everything he had done, everything Ganondorf did, and what he guessed was going to be his fate.

  Midna couldn’t talk, nor could she move. But her gaze was more than enough to make Zant wail.

  Zant's predictions about Ganondorf's character ended up being right. The conqueror found his pawn quite an eyesore, so the moment he entered the Twilight Realm, he unmade Zant with a simple flick of his wrist.

  Then Ganon's cruel and overpowered gaze turned to Midna, and he smirked.

  The Demigod looked at the kingdom, at the realm around him –he saw only destruction, rivers of blood, and mountains of corpses –courtesy of his usual brand of conquest. The Twilight Kingdom was no more, and there was probably one single Twili alive: Midna.

  Ganon’s first instinct was to destroy the Twilight Princess, but upon seeing her pitiful, cursed form, sealed between yers and yers of the strongest seals he had ever id his eyes upon, a streak of cruelty fshed through his mind.

  Using the almighty powers of the Triforce, he transferred Midna’s seal to the throne room, where he put the imp in her supposed throne. With a snap of his fingers, he woke up the princess of Twilight.

  “It was not for long that you were the Twilight Princess, but even beyond this realm, tales of how much you loved your Kingdom, your people, were known.” Ganon's cruel smile grew. “Now, as the st Twili alive.” Midna widened her eyes fearfully at that information. “I decided to give you a parting gift.”

  Ganon waved his hands once more, creating a giant screen before the throne. “Enjoy.” He did a half-bow before slowly walking out of the pace, each of his steps carrying the almost infinite weight of his powers.

  Distant enough from the Kingdom, Ganon teleported out and completely disintegrated the Twilight Mirror, forever separating the Twilight Dimension from his realm. He may be a cruel, sadistic conqueror, but that doesn’t mean he will leave loose ends so willy-nilly like this.

  The sound of the Twilight Mirror breaking echoed through all four corners of the realm, making Midna flinch at the sound. But before she could even as much look at her surroundings better, the screen created by Ganon lit up.

  It started to py, perfectly, the destruction of her Kingdom. Midna was forced to watch, in a loop, the death of her subjects, of her retives, of her family and friends… over and over again.

  It was torture.

  Midna tried closing her eyes, ignoring the sounds, or even just trying to avoid looking at it. But nothing worked. Even when she closed her eyes to sleep, she could still see the screen dispying the same horrifying scenes, her only respite being when she passed out from utter mental and emotional exhaustion.

  This cycle continued for a very long while, days blurred into weeks, and weeks into months… or perhaps it was merely a few days? Midna couldn’t know.

  Then, one day, she fell asleep one st time, spending more than an entire decade in the Realm of Dreams.

  The Tower had cimed her.

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  AN: And here ends another chapter.

  Yeah, this chapter is pretty backstory heavy, don’t know how you guys feel about it, but this was my attempt on teeling backstories of two characters in different ways, hope you liked it.

  We finally learn Midna’s past, and how much of a bastard Ganon can be. Yeah, our Twilight Princess suffered a lot, but she will have her due, don’t worry. :)

  As you can see, Ganon had a very sudden, unexpinable, abrupt change. Let’s see who will guess correctly what that means, hehe.

  Time skip, and then Midna is finally cleansed of her curse.

  We also learned more about Yasaka, the past of the Youkai, and how the Saiko Shinto Faction came to be.

  Yasaka seeing Antares fighting.

  Answer:

  Well, the first thing I thought about was Path to Victory, wanna win the lottery, here. Billionaire? Just do this and that, and you’re golden. Difficulty test ahead? Here is the answer sheet, and the list goes on… basically a power that tells you the exact steps to Victory, whatever that may mean to you.

  Then I thought about something akin to Luck EX, a power that makes you so lucky basically everything goes your way, but that could turn boring fast, even if I bet it would take a while for it to hit me.

  In the end, I decided on a Skill-Based Power. In my opinion is the perfect blend between effort, so things don't get boring, and return. Basically, a power that makes sure your progress on a subject, something akin to the Skyrim Skill system, but for every skill in life.

  EX: You want to get better at LOL, but no matter how much you sweat, py, or study the game, you stagnate at a certain elo. This ability would guarantee your skills never stagnate or stop improving, as long as you continue trying, you will always improve and evolve. Same for the financial market, you never understood it and never succeeded at it, no matter how much you tried. But with this skill, you could put 1 dolr there and keep making small trades until your financial skill is high enough level you steamroll that.

  ~ClearSkySage